Albany, NY — With the federal government under President Donald Trump unwinding Obama-era climate change programs and delegating regulatory authority to the states, states and large institutions are stepping in to fill the void. In a new policy brief, the Rockefeller Institute of Government reviews existing programs and outlines a roadmap for building successful coalitions to combat climate change.
“We’re seeing states, cities, and higher education systems taking a more aggressive approach to combating climate change in the face of inaction and reversals at the federal level,” said Jim Malatras, president of the Rockefeller Institute. “To help those efforts succeed, we’ve identified key elements for sustainable, effective action among large, nonfederal players that want to lead on this issue.”
Those elements include:
- Flexible program authority
- A centralized management structure that maintains state and institutional sovereignty
- Nimble program adaptability
- Public support of a multistate and multi-institutional approach
- A strategy to encourage heavy polluting states and institutional players to join climate change collaboratives
- Expansion of what the climate change programs cover
- Bipartisan support
The Rockefeller Institute and the office of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo are hosting a forum today, April 18, with leading experts from the environmental, energy, and finance fields to discuss strategies for responsibly moving investment portfolios away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy and sustainable investments.
For more information, visit rockinst.org/events.